


Topsy-Turvy

by ktchainz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, adding tags as i go :), allura wants a girlfriend, and probably, but it's to fight galra :(, for literally every pairing listed, rated T for swearing and stuff, there's gonna be some, they go back to Earth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 22:44:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11114445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktchainz/pseuds/ktchainz
Summary: Pidge inhaled deeply. “We think we’ve found Shiro’s whereabouts.”Lance’s eyes went wide.“And the Galra probably have too,” Hunk mumbled, eyes glued to the floor.“But, we can get him back, right?” Lance questioned as Hunk and Pidge seemed to duel it out with their eyes. “Guys, where is he?”With one last glare at Hunk, Pidge finally stepped forward. “He’s on Earth.”





	Topsy-Turvy

**Author's Note:**

> K so this chapter is short but hopefully they'll get longer as I go! I have a lot of stuff planned for the future of this fic, but beware bc I will not have an updating schedule. (It'll honestly be a miracle if I get past chapter 2. Bear with me.) Enjoy, I guess?

A glass shattered as it hit the floor of an almost silent home.

The broadcast displayed on the television set flickered, voices muted in the ringing of Stella Espinosa’s ears. 

Heavy footfalls made their way down the stairs along with her husband, ready to hold her as she inevitably stumbled back and pointed a shaky finger toward the screen. 

“The Garrison lied, Ramón. He’s not dead.”

“My baby boy is alive.”

* * *

 

_*36 Hours Earlier*_

Lance Espinosa wasn’t the type to let his feelings get to him. As the blue paladin, keeping the others up and running with casual quips and attempts at humor were pretty much part of his job description. 

Today, though? He just wasn’t feeling it. 

What with Shiro missing in some astral plane/alternate world/wherever the hell else, Allura’s stepping in as the black paladin hadn’t exactly been smooth sailing. Or, more exactly, it hadn’t been smooth sailing for  _Lance_. Allura, though he loved the girl to death, was a bit more harsh on the team than Shiro, and his aching muscles didn’t have to tell him that. 

“Maybe if you actually trained for a chance you wouldn’t be so out of it,” Keith grumbled as he slid past Lance and into his room.

Lance stumbled back with a scowl. “Hell did you come from, Mullet?”

“Training,” he replied with a smirk, earning a another glower from the man in front of him. “Maybe you would know that if you actually showed up.”

“Hey, I train! Maybe not as obsessively as you do, but I work my ass off just the same!”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Sure,” he said, and closing the door in front of Lance’s face.

“Aw, now that’s just immature. Open up and fight me like a real man, Keith, I’ll show you-“

Lance was cut off suddenly by a loud alarm blasting through the castle-ship. The door slid open, revealing a disgruntled and red-faced Keith. 

“I’m only out here for Zarkon.”

The two paladins sprinted toward the usual meeting place with the fruitful additions of Lance’s competitive vocabulary, Keith’s reluctant acceptance echoing throughout the halls.

The pair skidded to a stop in front of Allura and Coran, breathing heavily through their noses and lethargically bumping shoulders.

“I totally made it before you Keith, don’t even try to deny it!”

“I was clearly in the lead the entire time!”

“Maybe, but I  _passed you,_ and that’s all that really-“

Coran cleared his throat in an obviously exaggerated manner, tilting his head over to the Altean princess after doing so. The two straightened up immediately, a significantly more serious atmosphere taking their argument’s place. Lance took note of the pallid state of Allura’s face, looking to Hunk and Pidge for any sort of reaction.

“Uh, no offense princess, but why aren’t you in armor? And why’s everyone so freaked out?” Lance chuckled weakly.

Allura sighed, shoulders dropping even further than before. “Pidge found some… new information,” she replied. “I apologize for sounding the battle alarm, but I had to be sure you would treat this with the utmost importance.”

“So I guess I didn’t come out for Zarkon,” Keith grumbled.

Pidge shot him a look. “What she’s saying,  _Keith_ , is that you need to listen and shut the hell up.”

Lance shared a confused look with Keith before turning his attention to the green paladin. “Pidge, what’s going on?”

Pidge inhaled deeply. “We think we’ve found Shiro’s whereabouts.”

Lance’s eyes went wide.

“And the Galra probably have too,” Hunk mumbled, eyes glued to the floor.

“But, we can get him back, right?” Lance questioned as Hunk and Pidge seemed to duel it out with their eyes. “Guys, where is he?”

With one last glare at Hunk, Pidge finally stepped forward. “He’s on Earth.”

* * *

 

Lance’s memories of Earth were bittersweet, always tinted with the sorrow of a deserter. His nostalgia was filled with the songs of his family living room, the dances of his brothers and sisters, both younger and older. Thoughts of home drifted through his head like a sickly-sweet lullaby, reeling him in and spitting him out like clockwork, building him up with happiness before tearing him down in remembrance of what could have been.

He supposed these memories could be thought of like a wave; in and out, rushing in to comfort him and then dropping him abruptly from its arms. The ocean mirrored his thoughts, a bowl of beautiful sceneries and unknown depths, some looked upon with great wonder and others shied away from in fear of what lies hidden and unexplored. 

Shiro, he was there. He was home after so long, and no matter how selfish it was, Lance wanted to be there too. Sure, fighting alien crime in a huge robot was cool, but he was sure there wasn’t anything he wouldn't give to feel his mother’s embrace again. At least now they had an excuse to return. If not to save Shiro, his team needed to defend Earth from the Galra, and if Lance was lucky they might earn a stop on the green and blue planet.

Lance shook himself out of the reverie, tuning back in to Pidge’s voice.

“-and when I inputted this into the database, I was able to find Shiro’s relative location in accordance to other planets in the Milky Way Galaxy. You see, if I-“

“Pidge,” Keith cut in sharply, “this is all really interesting, but could you maybe explain that later? We need to focus on how the Galra found Shiro before we did.”

The green paladin adjusted her glasses before fixing a confused gaze on Keith. “We already know that, though.”

Lance coughed. “Uh, Pidge? I don’t think the rest of us do.”

“Right, sorry,” she grinned sheepishly. “Okay, so my thought process went a little like this: how can we find Shiro if his lion is still here with us? Completely impossible, right?”

Lance shrugged.

“Wrong,” she said with a satisfied smirk. “Zarkon still has a leg up on us when it comes to the black lion.”

Keith looked up sharply. “I thought the black lion was loyal to Shiro. That’s how he got his bayard back, right?”

“You’re exactly right. But my theory has more to do with the actual black paladins themselves.” Pidge let out a long breath. “You see, when the two of them fought on the astral plane, not only did it connect each of them to the black lion, but to each other. Their minds are pretty much tethered together at this point, meaning that Zarkon might even have the ability to see through Shiro’s eyes.”

Allura sucked in a breath. “Just like how you all are able to see through the eyes of your lions.”

“Hold up a tick,” Lance said. “How is that even possible? It took way too much training with our lions to even get to that point in the first place, and you’re saying Zarkon and Shiro managed it in two tries?”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but do you remember how Shiro was able to pull off that dive perfectly in one of our first training exercises?”

Coran stroked his mustache carefully. “I think I know what you’re getting at here, Pidge. The black paladins have always possessed the ability to form bonds with their lions faster than others, giving Zarkon a more direct path into Shiro’s mind, and vice versa.” He shook his head. “I just worry that Shiro won’t know block him-“

“Coran.” Allura’s eyes widened. “Is there any possible way that Zarkon could glean information from Shiro’s memories?”

Coran shook his head. The entire room seemed to let out a breath. 

“He might, however, have the ability to override Shiro’s mental capacities,” Coran said. “This would mean all of Shiro’s memories of his time aboard the castle-ship would be repressed in order to lessen the threat of Voltron against the Galra.”

“So even if we do rescue him, he won’t remember us?” Hunk whispered.

“Not at first, no,” Allura replied. “But if we can sever the connection, Zarkon’s block on his mind will be removed completely.”

Pidge’s gaze swept across the room. “That’s not all though. I hacked into a security feed on the main control ship and overheard a couple commanders talking about an attack headed toward Earth. One of them must have remembered that’s where we’re all from, meaning that we would feel obligated to try and save it.”

Keith let out a long breath. “So it’s a trap.”

Hunk looked him firmly in the eyes. “It doesn’t matter if it is. We can’t let our families, or Shiro, die.”

Lance surveyed the room, taking in the grim expressions on his friends’ faces. He smothered the spark of happiness that threatened to overtake him at the prospect of going back and reassembled his features into a mess of worry similar to the others.  _You’re not home yet_.

“We have to warn them,” he said. “We can’t leave everyone in the dark. They deserve to know that an evil alien race will probably destroy them and everything they know and love.”

Keith snickered.

“Thank you, Keith, for your emo sense of sense of humor. Anyway, if-“

“I do  _not_ have-“

Pidge coughed. “And how do you propose we do this, Lance?”

Lance smirked. “We go live. Broadcast our message around the globe, give ‘em the facts, tell them to stay safe.”  _And let my family know that I’m alive._

Hunk stepped forward. “I think it’s a good idea,” he said, making eye contact with Lance.  _Our families_ , he amended.

“Wouldn’t that just give away our position?” Keith asked. “If we’re gonna get ahead of the Galra, we should at least try and stay undercover.”

“They know we’re coming anyway,” Lance shot back. “And it’s not like they have a hacker as good as Pidge. They probably won’t even think to check the airwaves.”

Pidge nodded. “You’ve got a point, Lance. The Earthens will probably have a better chance at survival if we warn them in advance. It’ll at least give everyone some time to make evacuation plans, if it comes down to it.”

“Paladins, if we’re done here then we must be on our way,” Allura said. “Time is on our side, if only for a short while, and we wouldn’t want to waste our advantage. Coran, if you would come with me to prepare a wormhole, and the rest of you… prepare to return to Earth.”

Lance nodded.  _It’s time to go home_.


End file.
